Apparatus for cooking and drying canned food



M vH. STUART. v APPARATUS FOR COOKING AND DRYING CANNED FOOD.

APPLICATION FILED ssPT.4, |919.

Patented Mar. 30, 192:0.

M. H. STUART'.

APPARATUS FOR COOKING AND DRYING CANNED FOOD.

. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.4, 1919.

mmm i ttaznu iof 'rss PATENT onirica. l

MARVEN-H. STUART, 0F SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA.

APPARAU FOR COOKING AND DRYINGI- CANNED FOOD- To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MARvnN H. STUART, a citizen of the United States,residin at Santa Cruz, in the county of Santa ruz and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for Cookin and Drying Canned Food, of which the vollowing is aspecication, reference being had to thel accompanyto travel through asteam chamber or cooking chamber, then these cans automaticallyoverturned to drain the contents of the cans while the material is beingdried, and then the cans are discharged from the conveyer whereby theyare carried through the cookin chamber and the drying chamber.

-)ther objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My inventlon is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure1 is a side elevation partly broken away of'my cooking and dryingapparatus;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional v1ew through the table showing Ithemanner in which the cans are tipped within the heater 13;

Fig. 3 is a.fragmentary top plan view of the carrier and the canholders, the housing 13 being in section;

Fig. is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view through the lowerHight of the endless carrier and the rails 25;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional View of the housing 13 and the table,showing another rnanner of tipping the cans.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates a table, platform, or likesupport of any suitable character having at its opposite ends thesprocket wheels or rollers 11 and 12. Disposed on the table intermediatethe ends is a steamer or cooking chamber 13, which is illustrateddiagrammatically and whose detailed construction forms no part of myinvention, having openings 14: at its opposite ends and connected to asource of Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed September 4, 1919, SeriaI No. 321,582.

Patented MaLBO, 1920.

steam under pressure. Also disposed upon the table 10 intermediate theends thereof and beyond the chamber 13 is a drying chamber 15 havingentrance and eXit openings and heated in any suitable way to dry` thematerial passing therethrou h. This chamber is shown diagrammatica 1y,as the .details of construction form no part of my mventlon.

Disposed upon the face of the table and extendin longitudinally thereofis a track compose of the rails 16 and moving over the face of the tablebetween said rails are the sprocket chains 17 which pass over therollers or sprocket wheels 11. Power may Ybe applied to the rollers 11orto the sprocket chains in any suitable manner to cause the sprocketchains to travel in the ydirection of the arrow in Fig. 1. Preferably,in one form of my invention, the sprocket chains are connected atintervals by transverse bars 18, and disposed between the sprocketchains are a series of can holders 19 which are made in any suitablemanner, which are preferably rectangular and designed to contain 'aplurality of cans filled with yish or other food to be lpreserved orcanned.

I have illustrated each .holder as being adapted to contain a singletransversely .eX- tending row of cans, but the holder might be formed tosupport a plurality of rows. The holders or carriers are pivotallyconnected to the chains, as for instance, by arms 21 extending from oneend of the carriers and having eyes through which the rods 18 looselypass. The holders or carriers are adapted to rest upon the tracks. Asthe conveyer formed of the chains 17 travels along the upper face of thetable, the series of carriers or holders will be caused to travel alongover the tracks and will be carried by these tracks into the heatingchamber or cooking steamer 13.

One face of each holder or carrier is formed of perforated metal orreticulated material and designated generally 23, and preferably one endof each holder or carrier is open for' a'purpose which will be laterstated.' Now it is desired thatthe holders shall pass through thesteamer or cooking chamber 13 withthe open ends of the cans upward sothat the steam may have access to the contents of the cans to thoroughly'cook them and that before the holders can pass into the drying`chamber,the cans shall be overturned so that the open ends vare downward, tothus permit the liquid contents of the cans to drain away. -In Fig.

2 I have shown a means for securing thls overturning of the cans whichconsists in causing the tracks 16 to be downwardly delected ad'acent theexit end of the chamber 13, the ta le being, of course,.cut awa at thispoint for the same purpose, if t ere is a top to the table, the tracksbeing so located that as theholders reach this downwardly bowed portion,they will swing down to a depending position, as illustrated in Fi 2,the cans at this time being on their si es, and then will strike theupwardly inclined portion of the track and will continue on their waywith the screened faces of the holders or carriers downward so 'that thecans are inverted and the liquid contents of the cans may be drainedaway. This reversing or overturning of the cans may occur either in thesteamer 13 or in the drier 15, and

while I have illustrated this occurring at the end of the steamer 13 andbefore the entrance of the cans into the drier, yet I do not wish to belimited to this. It is ysufficient that the cans be overturned during aportion or the whole of their travel through the steamer.

The holdersl or carriers with the cans therein travel in an invertedposition through the drierl to the end of the table where the chainscarry the carriers and the cans over the sprocket wheels or rollers 12,and then the cans travel along beneath the table, with the terminalAends 22 of the prolongations 21 resting upon the upper ends of therails 2,5. At a certain point in the return travel of the cans, therails 25 and the carrier `chains are tipped by depressing one of therails 25, for instance, and elevating the other rail so that thecarriers are disposed at an angle, as shown-in Fig. 5 and with the openend of each carrier downward so that the-cans slide out onto theconveyer 26 to be carried to another portion of the plant where theproper oils, condiments, and spices are added and the cans sealed.

In Fig. 6 I show another means for inverting the holders, in which eachholder 19 is provided at its forward end with lateral trunnions 27 whichrest upon rails 28, these rails extending gradually upward within thechamber 13, and then at the exit end of the chamber being downwardlyturned, as

at 29. In this case, the carriers will be shoved along the table andalong the tracks 16 until the trunnions reach the lifting rails 28 whichgradually elevates the forward end of the holder or carrier until when acarrier arrives at the' rends 29 of the rails, the holders are nearlyvertical, the open ends of the holders being, of course, upward. At thispoint the movement of the chains 17 causes that end of the holder whichhas heretofore been rearward tobe drawn ahead of that end of the holderprovided with the trun nions 27 and the holder or carrier will beinverted, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The remainder of the performance 1sexactly the same as that heretofore described.

-It will be understood, of course, that the openings for the entranceand exit of the carriers to the ends of the 'chamber 13 and the ends ofthe drier chamber 15 are to be made of suitable size to just admit thecarriers, and may also be formed with flaps of flexible material whichwill rest upon the carriers, brid e the space between them, and prevent,as ar as possible, the outlet of steam or of heat.

As before remarked, the holders or carriers may be inverted either inthe chamber 13 or the chamber 15, and it is obvious that they might beinverted between these chambers. It is simply suicient that the holdersbe inverted while passing through all or a portion of the steamingchamber. Within the drying chamber, hot air is used to secure ra iddrying.

his machine maybe made of any desired capacity and if the holders areonly six cans wide, the machine will take the place of ten men. Ofcourse, it is understood that the cans are disposed in the holders atthe place marked A as the holders pass this point.

While I have illustrated a construction which I believe to be thoroughlyeffective for the purpose indicated and which is simple, I do not wishto be limited to this, as it` is obvious that many changes might be madein the details of construction and arrangement of the several partswithout departing from the spirit thereof.

vI claim 1. In canning mechanism, a cooking chamber, means for passingopen-ended cans containing the food to be canned through this chamberwith the open ends of the cans upward, a drying chamber, and means forpassing the cans through this drying chamber with their open endsdownwardly to allow the cans to drain while the contents are beingdried.

2. A mechanism of the character described including a cooking chamberand a drying chamber, an endless conveyer passing through the cookingand drying chambers, means for supportlng open-ended cans on saidconveyer and supporting said cans with their open ends upwardv as theypass through the cooking chamber, and means for automatically reversingthe cans to dispose their lower ends downward when they pass throu h thedrying chamber.

3. n canning machinery, means for cooking, drying, and draining` canscontaining food' products comprisin an endless conveyer, a series of canhol ers pivotally connected to the endless conveyer to swing from anupright to an inverted position, the under lojo sides of saidholdersfbeiv perforated, and means disposed in the pat of travel of theconveyor for causingxv said can holders to swing from an uprig tto aninvertedposi'- tion.

kLi. In canning machinery, meansrfor 'cookeV ing, drying, and drainingcans containing food products compl-isi an endless conveyer, a series ofcan hol ers pivotally connected tothe endless conveyer to swing from anupright to an inverted position, the under sides of said holdersbeingperforated, means disposed in the path of travel ofthe conveyer`for causing said can holders to swing from an upright to an invertedosition, and means for returning the'can ho ders to their uprightposition, and 4means for automatically discharging the cans therefrom.

5. In canning machinery, an endless con# veyer, tracks extending series'of can holders pivotally connected to the `endlessconveyer andtraveling on said tracks, and means disposed in thelen'gth of the tracksfor causing the invertion of the can holders as'theyare carried along bytheA endless conveyor, the under side'of the can ,holders being formedof perforated material.

6. In canning machinery, an'endldss conv3.0

Yas

veyer, tracks extending parallel thereto, and can holders pivotallyconnected to the ends of the conveyer for movement from an 'upright toan inverted position, the can holders having perforated material on thebottom, the can holders normallybeing su ported upon said tracks, andmeans being disposed along the length of the tracks for shifting one endof the holder away from the track until the holder is in a verticalposition and 40l causing the free 'en'd of the holder'to move rearwardrelative to that end of the holder which` is pivotally `connected to theconve er whereby to'cause the invertion of the hoders.' ,Y

7.1m .canning machinery, an endless con- V'eyer, tracks extendingparallel thereto, and can holders pivotally connected to the ends oftheconveyor for movement'from an upright to an inverted position,theholders parallel thereto, a:

having perforated material on the bottom, the can holders normally beingsupported upon said tracks, and means being isposed a ongv the length ofthe tracks for shiftin one end of the holder away from the.trac

until the holder is in a vertical position and causing the free end ofthe holder to move which is pivotally connected to the conveyer wherebyto causethe invertion of the holders, said means consisting ininterrupting the continuity of the trac s at one point whereby theholders may 'swing to a vertical position from saidconveyer.

8. In canning mechanism, a table having thereon a steam chamber havingan entrance and an exitl opening at its opposite ends, a drying chamberalso having an entrance and exit opening, tracks extending -along the'table and through said chambers, an endless conveyor havin its upperflight -dis osed between the trac and passing throug said' rearwardrelative to that end of the holder chambers and the lower flightextending besaid holders and the cans supported therein. during thepassage of the cans between the:

entrance end of the coolri4 chamber and theexit end of the dr ing camber, whereby the contents rof said cans ma drain, a

lateral Aconveyor extending para lel to the.

underight of the first named conveyer and toone si e thereof, andmeansffor tilting thev l conveyer along itsu'nder flight to dischargethe cans through the open ends of the holders yonto said conveyor.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix' my MARVEN H. STUART, Witnesses :4l

LUcAsF. SMITH,

Lucas F. SMITH, Jr.

signature in the presence of two witnesses. A

